Lanrick Bennett Jr.

Staff Team

Lanrick Bennett Jr. is the Executive Director of Charlie's Freewheels. His previous work has kept him within the active transportation, urban design, and placemaking sphere including stints at Toronto based 8 80 Cities, Artscape and most recently The Laneway Project. Though he credits much of his success in city building from his time working at The Second City, refining his understanding and implementation of the improv art of Yes, And...! His city advocacy work started while traveling with his then 5-year-old son to all 100 libraries by public transit nick-naming it #JacksLibraryTour. He gives back locally as the Community Advisory to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council at UofT, he is a board member with TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and also monitors the progress and activity of affordable housing through the volunteer-based HousingNowTO initiative. Finally in January 2022, Lanrick was appointed Toronto’s first Bicycle Mayor and has volunteered with The Bike Brigade, delivering food to individuals and families in need.

Stephanie Orlando is the Program Manager & Instructor at Charlie’s Freewheels. She is actively involved in the cycling community in Toronto and has worked as a bike mechanic at Ya Bikes and Toronto Bicycle Tours, and volunteered at community organizations such as Bike Pirates and Bikechain. She enjoys camping, long bike rides, and playing the piano.

Stephanie Orlando

 Board of Directors

The Charlie’s FreeWheels board is a group of volunteers that work with staff to establish the direction of the organization and work to carry out its mission. The board attends monthly meetings (currently being held virtually) as well as monthly committee meetings including finance, fundraising, strategic planning, policies, board development, communications and marketing and more.

  • Claire McFarlane

    Claire McFarlane is the President and Co-Chair of Charlie's FreeWheels. She has worked with cycling organizations such as dandyhorse magazine, The Bad Girls* Bike Club and Cycle Toronto. Claire has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University and is currently working towards a masters in journalism at Carleton University. She likes bike touring and pastries.

  • Adam Hasham

    Adam is the Vice-president and Co-chair of Charlie’s FreeWheels. He is currently a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Chief Capital Officer (GO&UP) at Metrolinx, working on the expansion of the GO Rail network across the GTHA. While a Director at consulting firm MASS LBP, Adam has led transportation, public space, infrastructure finance, and illicit drug policy projects for governments and their agencies across Canada. Adam holds a Master of Cities Engineering & Management from the University of Toronto, where he is now a lecturer, and a Bachelor of Transportation Engineering from McGill University.

  • Gary Chen

    Gary joined Charlie's Freewheels in 2021 as a Director on the Board. Gary has deep experience from the private sector in technology, software and consulting services. He is currently a product commercialization leader at Shopify. His passion for direct community engagement, youth empowerment and cycling brought him to Charlie's FreeWheels. Gary holds a Bachelor's of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa.

  • Sivahami Vijenthira

    Siva got to know Charlie's FreeWheels in 2012, when she led an after school youth bike program alongside staff from CFW, and she's been a big admirer ever since. She brings outreach and communications experience from Culturelink, Cycle Toronto, Spacing Magazine, 8 80 Cities, and now Metrolinx. She is also an advisor to The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) and Progress Toronto. Siva holds a Bachelor of Arts & Science from McMaster University.

  • Hermann Tamnou

    Hermann joined Charlie's FreeWheels in 2021 as a mechanic and youth educator.

    He is part of Charlie's programming committee and has worked with Cycle Toronto, and the Regenesis cycling club at York University; where he studies electrical engineering.

    He enjoys bike-backing, camping, and doing wheelies.

  • Michael Bercovici

    Michael is a party pace cyclist and aspiring mechanic who joined Charlie’s board in 2023. He has experience in community advocacy and works with data in finance. Mike is the proud father of a one-eyed, goggle-wearing Yorkipoo.

 Interested in Joining the board?

Those who are interested in joining the board should email claire@charliesfreewheels.ca. We encourage people from the CFW community including youth program graduates and people from the Regent Park neighbourhood to apply. Board members usually contribute a minimum of 10 hours per month to the organization.